


River Song and the Fall of the Silence Part I

by HelloBenjamin



Series: The Adventures of River Song [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Indiana Jones, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:44:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloBenjamin/pseuds/HelloBenjamin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When her fiance, known as the Doctor, goes missing just before their wedding, archeologically professor and adventurer River Song must go out in search of him.</p><p>But the Doctor's in for the run of his life as his mother's past and his future come to haunt him. He only knows one thing, though. Silence will fall when the question is asked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

England, 1937

 

Nothing could go wrong today.

Well, apart from him arriving to the chapel late, but honestly, all the guests probably expected that anyway.

Other than that, everything was perfect. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, the birds were singing. It was every cliché in the book.

It was absolutely the most wonderful day to marry River Song.

The Doctor twirled back and forth in front of the mirror, preening at himself. The twin coat tails of his dress jacket swished around to his satisfaction. He perhaps overdressed a bit for the occasion, and would no doubt be mocked by his soon to be mother-in-law Amy for looking so ridiculous, but frankly he didn’t care one bit.

Because now, after everything, after all that time spent apart, after all the heartbreak and love and trauma and joy and the occasional ancient biomechanical dragon trying to kill all, he was finally marrying the woman he loved since he was a teenager.

That and he never could resist the chance to dress up.

He had been living with River already for about a year now. Mostly as he didn’t have anywhere else to go since his old home was now a burnt husk on the side of the Himalayas. Not that he was complaining. Living with River was absolute dream. Sure, there wasn’t an argument he won, but really he couldn’t much mind that. River looked pretty damn sexy when smug.

But there was something about the idea of being married, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, that felt like a new level of bliss. He kept the feeling to himself, though. He knew River would call him a sappy idiot if he ever told her.

A creaking from across the house pulled him out of his musing, the sound of a door opening.

Except he was home alone.

“Hello?” he shouted as went to investigate, “River? Is that you?”

No reply.

He checked both the front and back door. Both locked.

Could something have-?

No. No, he was just being paranoid. That’s all. Always looking over his shoulder. He couldn’t help it, his mother had drilled that into him for as long as he could remember. Never knew why.

God, he wished she could’ve been here for today.

He went back to the mirror picking up the last thing he needed, his top hat, and dramatically flipping it onto his head with a grin.

No, there was absolutely nothing that could ruin this day.


	2. Chapter 2

How could everything have gone so wrong?

Sure, she expected him to be late. But to not show up at all?

Her father had gone to her house to see if he was there and she was pretty sure her mother had gone off to find some means of making her a cup of tea, but River herself had left to sit on the front steps of the small college chapel alone. She had to leave the people in there and the stares of pity they cast.

Already the rumors had started flying around. That he’d gotten cold feet. That he’d forgotten and slept in. The guests more prone to senseless gossip were already spreading around the idea that he went off with another woman.

But the Doctor wouldn’t do that. Not to her.

He may not have been the most punctual person, but he was dependable and with an unbeatable memory. And he had been looking forward to this more than anybody. He even had this notion that marriage would be like heaven on Earth or something, the sappy idiot.

And the idea that he’d run off with someone else, man or woman, was simply laughable.

There was absolutely no way he’d forget or get jittery or simply run off.

So where was he? Where was the Doctor?

“Here.”

River jumped a bit as a mug was thrust in her face.

“Oh, so you managed to find some tea then?” she said up to the figure handing her the cup.

“Yeah, well even priests need to drink,” her mother said, “And you need to stop worrying. John’s fine. Probably. Okay, intentionally skipping out on things is pretty uncharacteristic for him, and trouble does seem to follow him like a lost puppy, and-”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working,” River cut Amy off, taking the tea offered to her.

Amy sat down beside her daughter, “Look, I’m just saying you need to be level headed right now. Your father will be back any minute now either with that goofy idiot or with news about him. If it’s not good news, then you can worry.”

River snorted. She knew her mother was right, now wasn’t the time to worry. But she also couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that something bad had happened to him and she wouldn’t see him again. Not for a good long time.

The oddest part was that she started feeling that well before she herself had even gotten to the church.

And River had long since learned to follow her gut feelings, what with the dangers she’s faced in her life. Usually, the more impossible something was, the more likely it was to kill you. And she’d faced a lot of impossible things in her time.

Still, that was no reason to lose her cool. She had to maintain some level of confidence whether her fiancé was coming back or not.

As if by providence, a car pulled up the drive in front of them. Her father was back. But was he back with the Doctor?

Rory stepped out of his car, slamming the door behind him. River only had to take one look at the grimness on his face to know that the Doctor wasn’t with him. Worse, that was a grimness that said something terrible had happened. Something far, far worse than a ruined wedding.

River felt something inside her slip and crash.

This day hadn’t just been ruined, her whole life had.


	3. Chapter 3

It must have been a hell of a fight judging by the state of the front room. And the kitchen. And the hall. Even the ground floor bathroom didn’t escape being used as a battlefield. The Doctor definitely didn’t bow out easily, whatever happened.

Not surprising given his skills at hand-to-hand combat. The man may not have looked like much, and he certainly did have the habit of tripping over nothing, but he could fight back when necessary. He was an expert at fencing and a dab hand with a cutlass. And he knew at least five forms of martial arts, including one he invented called Venusian Aikido.

He was also more than clever enough to figure out how to use his surroundings to his advantage. Anything could be a weapon if used right.

He rarely used his skills unless as an absolute last result, usually choosing to talk his way out of things or flat out run away, both if possible. But they were still there under the surface, waiting to be broken out in case of emergencies.

So whoever took him at least had their work cut out for them.

Which quite frankly was not much of a comfort to River right now.

She stood in their bedroom, where she guessed the fight had started.

“Well, it’s definitely not a break in gone wrong,” came Amy’s voice from the doorway as she and Rory stepped over the carnage in the room to stand by their daughter, “Nothing seems to have been taken.”

“I just don’t understand who would want to kidnap John,” Rory added.

“Yeah,” said Amy sarcastically, “He’s only a literal genius with eleven doctorates. With close ties to that UNIT group, giving him access to a lot of _really_ juicy government intel. And is really good at forging documents. Not to mention all the weird supernatural stuff him and River get involved with. _No one_ could possibly want _that_.”

There was a gasp of pain that River took to mean her that her Father had elbowed Amy for this, but River didn’t respond herself.

She couldn’t tear her attention away from the mirror in front of her. Written across it in large red letters was a word. Just one word.

_Silence._

\---

“Okay, explain it again.”

“You know, it’s really hard to keep explaining something you don’t know much about yourself.”

“Just humor your father.”

River sighed, completely exasperated. They were wasting time, nattering away like this while the Doctor slipped further and further away from her. She had to go and find him right now, and yet she was still standing around her bedroom in a wedding dress.

“The Silence are these people, creatures really, with the ability to move around unseen, like they’re sort of out of focus. They were involved in the situation with the Ark of the Covenant.”

“No, too fast. Still not getting it,” Rory shook his head.

“Welcome to the club,” River said, gritting her teeth as she flung an open suitcase onto the bed and starting lobbing clothing items into it, “But they’re dangerous and whatever they want the Doctor for, it can’t be good.”

She grabbed off the nightstand the tube of lipstick that had been salvaged from under the bed, its tip worn down from being frantically pressed against and dragged down the mirror by the Doctor, and fiddled around in her hands before flumping down on the floor by the bed.

“I don’t know what to do,” she sobbed into her knees, the stress of the ordeal finally breaking her as she started crying. She didn’t even know where to begin with this. The Doctor was just gone, taken from her, and she knew nothing about the freaks that might have taken him. And now he could be anywhere with goodness knows being done to him. She didn’t want to go after him only to find him dead. Or worse.

She should’ve been there. She should’ve been with him instead of adhering to some stupid luck based ritual. This could’ve been avoided if she had been in the house with him. He could’ve at least had a better chance.

“Don’t take this out on yourself Mels,” she heard her mother say. River realized she’d been blubbering all that out loud. “You couldn’t have known this was gonna happen. And I know Tasha drilled it in your head to protect John at all costs, but he isn’t a kid anymore. He’s an adult and he’s been in this kind of situation enough to know what to do. And he you’ll do anything to save him regardless.”

“But I don’t even know where to start with this,” River whimpered.

Her father spoke up this time, “Then you just need to find someone who does.”

 _Someone who does_. River jumped up, shocking both her parents. There was someone she could think of who could know about them. Someone who had contacts everywhere.

“Is Jack still at the wedding?” she asked.

“What, Jack Harkness?! What could he possibly know about this?” asked Amy.

“Nothing,” River said, “But I need his plane.”


	4. Chapter 4

He really had to stop getting himself captured. This was getting embarrassing.

Everything tilted back and forward as the world came back into focus. For a moment the Doctor attributed it to the drugs he felt coursing through his system. He shook his head to clear it out. No, the crates really were shifting slightly to and fro.

In other words, he was in the cargo hold of a ship. At sea.

_Damn it._

He tried to pull his arms away from the wall he was left propped up against and, of course, chained.

This was just like in Cairo with Kovarian and Belloq. Or back when he and River got involved in that Christen ‘Spear of Destiny’ nonsense with more Nazis a couple months ago.

Or was it the Norse Spear of Destiny he had been captured while looking for? Both maybe?

Drifting. He was drifting. He may have been awake now, but whatever these people drugged him with was still clouding his thoughts.

Who was that again?

The Doctor struggled through the haze in his mind, trying to sort out his blurred recent memories.

He had been excited, getting married to River today. Oh. That would probably be canceled now. They’ll lose the deposit on the village hall. The salsa band!

Drifting again, drifting.

He remembered a fight. He _almost_ made it outside, where at least there would’ve been witnesses. But he couldn’t remember his attackers.

Oh. Of course.

The final piece slotted into space, taking a tube of River’s lipstick, her favorite shade actually, she wouldn’t be happy with that, and scrolling the word Silence across the mirror he had been dressing in front of when he first noticed his attackers.

He’d been taken by the Silence. Again.

But why? Last time he had been a strategic hostage, hadn’t he? He had been in possession of the piece they had needed to find the Ark of the Covenant as well as being close to River, their opponent in getting it.

So why attack him in his own home? He hadn’t had any occult treasure they might deem useful, nor did River, maybe. Unless they only took him because they wanted to ruin his life.

This couldn’t be a coincident. At least he didn’t think it was. He couldn’t explain it, but deep down he felt like this had been inevitable, like his whole life had been preparing for this moment.

But why?

Any line of thought he took only brought him back to that question.

He dropped his head back, letting it thud against the wall he was bound to. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was scared. He was actually properly frightened.

He felt like a lost child. He just wanted to be home, with River. They should’ve been married by now.

Oh god, what if they had taken her too?

Panic started to settle in. He couldn’t let that happen. Fear was fine. Fear kept you fast. It was when panic set in that people started making mistakes and ended up dead.

River hadn’t been taken. He had to assume that, if anything for his own sanity. She was still out there and she’d be doing anything in her power to find him. And he’d be damned if he wasn’t gonna meet her halfway.

He had to break out of here as soon as he could. Escaping a ship in the middle of what he assumed to be either the Channel or the Atlantic wasn’t the most ideal situation, but it was certainly possible. Especially if River _was_ searching for him.

He had to try to escape. He owed River that much.

The chains would be a synch to undo. Then it would be a matter of getting out of this hold. It was pretty big, which meant it was a big ship. Which meant more places to hide. And also plenty of supplies that wouldn’t be missed; food, provisions, navigation devices, telecommunication devices; much of which could probably be found in this very room.

Guards were always easy to get past or trick. Even the most hard felt ones let boredom get the better of them, and bored guards were never alert. A terrible flaw across the whole notion of them, the Doctor always thought.

The Silent men might pose to be a problem, but he couldn’t be certain they were on the ship with him. Though they probably were. But if anyone could figure out their weak point, it was him.

And they couldn’t be more than an hour or so out from England, they couldn’t have drugged him for more than long enough than just to get him on this ship as he lived a good fair way from any shipping docks, so trying to take a lifeboat back to shore _could_ be feasible.

So if he was good, if he kept quiet and to the shadows and made sure no one, he had to assume that everyone on this ship was in on whatever this was, was alerted to his disappearance from the hold and put the ship on red alert, he could get out, get what he needed, and get a life boat off this ship and be heading back to home within the hour. Puddings for all!

Except then he’d probably never find out what they wanted him for.

That ‘but why’ kept filtering in above the fear. He had to know who these people were and what they wanted with him.

Oh, it was perfectly clear that whatever it was it wouldn’t be good for him, his experience with Kovarian months ago proved that. But that seemed inconsequential to finding out the truth.

He had to know. He _needed_ to know. So much it hurt.

And the only way to learn was straight from the horse’s mouth.

If he wanted to know what was going on, he’d have to let the Silence take him wherever they were taking him, to whatever remote corner of the world where he may face unimaginable horrors.

Oh, but he’d do anything to sedate his curiosity.

He couldn’t help feeling that they knew that.

The Doctor slid back against the wall as much as he could. He knew this was the craziest thing he could’ve done, let them take him, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to know. Even though it meant possibly never seeing River again.

No, he wouldn’t let it come to that. He would find out what he needed to and then find a way to escape from there. River knew him well enough to guess what he was doing here, what his reasons were. There was nothing on this Earth that would stop her from finding him and he couldn’t imagine that anything from any other world that may be out there could stop her either. She would find him whatever the cost even if he was unable to escape the Silence himself. And he could still try to meet her halfway. Just not quite yet.

So why couldn’t he shake the feeling that he had just signed his death warrant?

He didn’t know what to do. He was scared. Not just by the situation, but by his reaction to it. He just wanted to see the woman he loved again, but had been struck by the terrible realization that he might not do everything in his power to do so. And that horrified him.

“I’m sorry my love,” he whispered out across the dark hold.


End file.
